Tag: loss

Losing weight through regular exercising is definitely strenuous yet effective. Add to it, a healthy low-cal diet and your chances of a slimmer waist go up considerably. Experts would also advise you to include those foods into your daily diet that aid weight loss. These foods either help boost your metabolism or help ease the process of digestion – either way, helping you on your weight loss journey. Green tea is one such popular ‘weight-loss aid’. However, what does green tea really help in? Does it help lose weight or is it just a myth? What is the best way to consume green tea? We decode the answers for you.

What is green tea?

Green tea, like black tea, are plucked from a shrub called Camellia Sinensis. Green tea leaves do not undergo oxidation and withering process that is used to make black tea, and are therefore, considered to be healthier than others. It is power-packed with antioxidants. Our body releases free radicals that may prove to be hazardous for health. Antioxidants are known to fight these free radicals and boost the immune system of the body. Green tea consists of antioxidants that include Vitamin E, Vitamin C or beta-carotene that protect the body. It also has an active ingredient called Catechins that help in boosting metabolism and further lose weight.

Green tea, like black tea, are plucked from a shrub called Camellia Sinensis

According to Nutritionist Lokendra Tomar from Weight Loss Clinic, “Green tea does help in weight loss. In many scientific studies it has been found that green tea increases fat burning and boost the metabolic rate as much as 17%. Stress is one of the major causative factors in obesity. Green tea also contains an active ingredient known as Theanine. Theanine is a type of amino acid, which helps in reducing stress by providing calming and relaxing effect on brain without sedation. This helps in losing weight easily.”

We enlist some reasons to have green tea for weight loss:

1. It is calorie free

According to expert Nutritionist Dr. Rupali Dutta, “Green tea is consumed with hot water and is sugarless. Hence, it is a calorie-free drink. Having 2-3 cups of this concoction won’t really affect your calorie intake for the day.

2. Helps you manage hunger pangs

According to Dr. Dutta, if you feel hungry, green tea is the best drink to manage hunger pangs at odd hours. It is just like drinking water, the more you drink the fuller you feel. One cup of green tea will stop you from binge eating unnecessarily.

3. It has numerous antioxidants

Green tea is trove of antioxidants that promote health. These antioxidants may help in boosting metabolism and keep the digestion process strong. The polyphenols present in the tea help detoxify the body too.

4. It has Catechins

Catechins are one of the antioxidants present in green tea which are believed to boost metabolism, further promoting weight loss.

Green tea is trove of antioxidants that promote health​

When should one ideally have green tea?

According to Nutritionist Mehar Rajput, “The ideal time to have green tea is right after your breakfast and lunch when your metabolism rate is higher. Intake of green tea during this period will only help boost metabolism rate, further helping the food to digest better and faster.”

Does green tea really help in losing weight?

Dr. Rupali Dutta says that green tea is a health drink full of antioxidants. You can consume it anytime you want to. It is, however, imperative to understand that only drinking green tea wouldn’t help lose weight, but some amount of exercise and a healthy diet along with cups of green tea should be taken into consideration.

Adding to the long tailing benefits of practicing yoga is the new study published in the journal Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience, which suggests, that those who have been practicing Yoga for a long time may have an edge as far as cognitive development in old age is concerned.

According to the study, that long term yoga could change the structure of your brain and protect cognitive decline and memory loss in old age, especially amongst female yoga practitioners-Yoginis. The researchers found that the elderly “yoginis” have greater cortical thickness in the left prefrontal cortex, in brain areas associated with cerebral functions like attention and memory.

The structure and functionality of the brain alters as we grow old which often leads to cognitive decline, including impaired memory and attention. One such change in the brain is largely attributed the cerebral cortex becoming thinner, which scientists have shown is correlated with cognitive decline

Elisa Kozasa of Hospital Israelita Albert Einstein in Sao Paulo, Brazil, involved in the study, explained just as our muscles, the brain develops through training.

She said, “Like any contemplative practice, yoga has a cognitive component in which attention and concentration are important,”

The researchers wanted to examine if elderly long-term yoga practitioners had any differences in terms of brain structure compared with healthy elderly people who had never practiced yoga.For the study,they recruited a small group of female yoga practitioners or yoginis who had practiced yoga at least twice a week for a minimum of eight years, although the group had an average of nearly 15 years of yoga practice.

The researchers then compared the yoginis with another group of healthy women who had never practiced yoga, contemplative or meditative practices, but hared same levels of physical activity, belonging to the same age group. (around 60)

The team scanned the participants’ brains using magnetic resonance imaging to see if there were any differences in brain structure. “We found greater thickness in the left prefrontal cortex in the yoginis, in brain regions associated with cognitive functions such as attention and memory,” Rui Afonso from Hospital Israelita Albert Einstein in Sao Paulo added.

Dip in memory in old age is natural while physical activity and contemplative practices like yoga can help Memory superfoods such as antioxidant-rich, colorful fruits, green leafy vegetables and whole grains which protect your brain from harmful free radicals, can help immensely in memory retention. Here are some food which can work wonders for memory and cognitive development as a whole.

Vitamin C and B: Vitamin C, found in citrus fruits, is associated with mental agility, whereas Vitamin B is known to guard against age-related brain shrinkage and cognitive impairment. Load up on blackcurrants, fish, green leafy vegetables, mushrooms, peanuts, sesame seeds and eggs to rev up your brain power.

Nuts and Seeds: A handful of seeds and nuts may help improve your memory power significantly. Pumpkin seeds are loaded with zinc that play a great role in sharpening your memory. Brain-shaped walnuts are a good source of omega-3 and other essential nutrients crucial for brain functioning and memory skills. Sunflower seeds are good sources of Vitamin E. Even peanuts are packed with vitamin E, a potent antioxidant. Almonds and hazelnuts also help boost memory.

Berries: Blueberries are the top source of substances called anthocyanins which are brain-boosting antioxidants. Eating blueberries daily can help combat against the onset of short term memory loss. Even strawberries, when consumed regularly can help delay age-related memory decline.

Green Vegetables: Broccoli, kale, collard greens, spinach – all green vegetables are full of iron, Vitamin E, K and B9 (folate), and phytonutrients like vitamin C which are extremely important for brain cell development. Vitamin K is known to be helpful in cognitive enhancement and increasing mental alertness.

Avocados: Enriched with Vitamin E, avocados are loaded with antioxidants which help in keeping the brain healthy and alert. Creamy avocados are also associated with lowering the risk of Alzheimer’s.

Tomatoes: Tomatoes are a good source of lycopene which acts against brain cell degeneration and aids in the maintenance and production of new brain cells.

Whole Grains: Whole grains are considered to be the powerhouse of energy and help you focus better. On consuming fiber-rich whole grains, energy is released in the body in the form of sugar which assists the brain in functioning properly, keeping us alert.

Fish: Omega-3 fatty acids as well as DHA and EPA are essential for healthy brain functioning as well as for healthy brain neurons. Include salmon, mackerel, tuna and other fish in your diet. Vegetarian? You can substitute with soybean oil and flaxseed oil.

Ashwagandha: a go-to choice in Ayurvedic medicine, is known for promoting memory since it helps prevent nerve cell damage. Dr Ashutosh Gautam, Clinical Operations and Coordination Manager at Baidyanath says, “Ashwagandha can be taken in the form of powder or tablet. It also improves the brain’s memory functions like attention and concentration, hence helping with the symptoms of Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s and other neurodegenerative diseases

Here’s some good news for women undergoing menopause. A study has found that fermented-red clover extract can effectively reduce the number and severity of hot flushes, hormonal swings and bone loss experienced during menopause.

The study also found that the extract prevents the normally accelerated menopausal bone loss, which affects one in three women over the age of 50.

Researcher Max Norman Tandrup Lambert said that it is the fermentation process of the red clover extract that makes the difference, as the lactic acid fermentation increases the bioavailability of the bioactive estrogen-like compounds.

The team led by professor Per Bendix Jeppesen, from the department of Endocrinology and Internal Medicine under the department Clinical Medicine at Aarhus University Hospital in Denmark, investigated fermented red clover extract as a healthier alternative to traditional estrogen therapy proscribed by doctors. The red clover extract was fine-tuned to improve the gastro-intestinal uptake of the active isoflavone compounds.

The researchers analysed 60 women with menopause symptoms based on criteria of at least five severe hot flushes per day and blood tests (including FSH, that indicates the “stage” of menopause).

The women were separated into two groups of 30 each, in which 30 drank 150ml red clover extract per day for 12 weeks, while the other 30 drank a masked placebo product. After 12 weeks they were tested again.

The study also found that fermented red clover extract prevents the normally accelerated menopausal bone loss, which affects one in three women over the age of 50. (Shutterstock)

In this study, the hot flush symptoms of women were measured using a so called ‘skin conductor’, a device that is applied to the underside of the wrist that can determine the number hot flush events and their severity objectively based on sweat secretion. Similarly, the effect of the red clover extract on bone health has been tested via so-called DXA scans of the spine and hips.

These findings are very promising as the benefits take place without any of the side effects of traditionally proscribed hormone therapies that increase the risk of cancers and cardiovascular diseases.

Good dental care is extremely important for diabetics. According to a recent study, the disease can even risk a patient’s oral health. The University of Pennsylvania researchers found that the oral microbiome is affected by diabetes, causing a shift to increase its pathogenicity. The research not only showed that the oral microbiome of mice with diabetes shifted but that the change was associated with increased inflammation and bone loss. It is of significance in India where diabetes is on the rise among the population, and alarmingly, a lot of people remain undiagnosed.

“Up until now, there had been no concrete evidence that diabetes affects the oral microbiome,” said senior author Dana Graves. “But the studies that had been done were not rigorous.” Just four years ago, the European Federation of Periodontology and the American Academy of Periodontology issued a report stating there is no compelling evidence that diabetes is directly linked to changes in the oral microbiome. But Graves and colleagues were skeptical and decided to pursue the question, using a mouse model that mimics Type 2 diabetes.

“My argument was that the appropriate studies just hadn’t been done, so I decided, We’ll do the appropriate study,” Graves said. The team began by characterising the oral microbiome of diabetic mice compared to healthy mice. They found that the diabetic mice had a similar oral microbiome to their healthy counterparts when they were sampled prior to developing high blood sugar levels, or hyperglycemia. But, once the diabetic mice were hyperglycemic, their microbiome became distinct from their normal littermates, with a less diverse community of bacteria.

Diabetes patients have increased levels of a molecule that is important in immune response and inflammation. (Shutterstock)

The diabetic mice also had periodontitis, including a loss of bone supporting the teeth, and increased levels of IL-17, a signalling molecule important in immune response and inflammation. Increased levels of IL-17 in humans are associated with periodontal disease. “The diabetic mice behaved similar to humans that had periodontal bone loss and increased IL-17 caused by a genetic disease,” Graves said.

The findings underscored an association between changes in the oral microbiome and periodontitis but didn’t prove that the microbial changes were responsible for disease. To drill in on the connection, the researchers transferred microorganisms from the diabetic mice to normal germ-free mice, animals that have been raised without being exposed to any microbes. These recipient mice also developed bone loss. A micro-CT scan revealed they had 42% less bone than mice that had received a microbial transfer from normal mice. Markers of inflammation also went up in the recipients of the diabetic oral microbiome.

“We were able to induce the rapid bone loss characteristic of the diabetic group into a normal group of animals simply by transferring the oral microbiome,” said Graves. With the microbiome now implicated in causing the periodontitis, Graves and colleagues wanted to know how. Suspecting that inflammatory cytokines, and specifically IL-17, played a role, the researchers repeated the microbiome transfer experiments, this time injecting the diabetic donors with an anti-IL-17 antibody prior to the transfer. Mice that received microbiomes from the treated diabetic mice had much less severe bone loss compared to mice that received a microbiome transfer from untreated mice.

The findings “demonstrate unequivocally” that diabetes-induced changes in the oral microbiome drive inflammatory changes that enhance bone loss in periodontitis, the authors wrote. Though IL-17 treatment was effective at reducing bone loss in the mice, it is unlikely to be a reasonable therapeutic strategy in humans due to its key role in immune protection. But Graves noted that the study highlights the importance for people with diabetes of controlling blood sugar and practicing good oral hygiene. The study is published in the journal Cell Host & Microbe.